Insurance

Do all you sea dogs insure your Hobie's? I haven't in the past but I get really nervous. I'm not so concerned about my thousand dollar boat as much as someone getting hurt or me running into someone elses boat.

Where can one get inexpensive insurance on a boat?

I used to have my motorboat insured through my home owners policy but I'm not sure if that covered liability or if it was just in case it got damaged or stolen..

I've been thinking about the same thing.. was going to call up my home owner's agent and see what they thought.

If you are not concerned about your boat being damaged then don't buy boat insurance. Your homeowners policy will cover you while sailing if you hurt anothers property or person. If you don't have a homeowners policy then insure your boat for the minimum allowed and it will include a liability provision. Liability is all you need to protect others from you. If you race make sure there is no disclosure ( very rare ) about organized racing. I am a licensed agent and most recently worked for State Farm. State Farm HO policies will protect you, their boat policy has many loopholes that don't favor sailing craft. Its a great motorboat policy. I think Progressive may have the best overall boat contract, priced competitively as well.

I would urge that you not push your boat into the water without some insurance. At the very minimum liability. You are not supposed to attend any races without some minimum coverage, unless you are rich, of course.

I use AAA and get nice coverage from them at a reasonable price. You have to be insured by them with auto I think. If I were not there I would look at Boat US or West Marine's policies (the same).

If you are not insured you are risking a lot for a pleasurable sail that may or may not go awry. Hopefully all will go great, but the more you plan for safety the less that will happen.

Later,
Dan

I got to thinking about this and started wondering, What if my $1000 boat got totaled? answer, I would have to buy another $1000 boat. I called my State farm rep and asked what it would cost to insure my quite old Hobies. Answer less then $150 per year per boat. This covered replacement costs up to $4000.00 Humnnnn I am insuring my boats.

Don't get too excited about that - you'd have to prove that the boat was worth that much for them to give you a pay-out after a totalled boat. Dunno how they look up values, but...goot luck convincing them $4k.

_________________
Tim
Unofficial Fleet 72 Communications Officer and Div 4 Webmaster
http://www.hobiefleet72.org
http://www.div4.hobieclass.com/

I am not one to do something like that (cheater never win). That is the kind of thing that drives the insurance costs up. but to only have to a deductable for a good used mast or to replace a hull.

An H-17 I partly owned disappeared from the beach a few years. We filed with the partners homeowners insurance. The only request the insurance company had was for us to come up with the replacement cost....which we did by asking dealors what a particular year's value was.

Allstate insured my old boat (85) for $50 per year for full replacement. My new boat is about $65/year.

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2005 Hobie 16 - Ventura Nationals Boat #21
http://www.JackieandAlan.com

Was the cat located on the homeowners property/beach?




Frankly I'm very surprised HO insurance is covering damaged or stolen cats, and if I'm understanding what some of you are saying, people injuries as well???

Typical HO policies will cover up to 1k for a non-motorized vessel. The liability portion is usually very substantial - 300k or so. The HO policy will cover you for any situation in which you are deemed liable. It will not cover you for liability which there is special coverage available ie. auto liability. Since boat liability only policies are not available HO policies will pay the claim. Most boat policies are designed to protect your boat first and liability is a component of the coverage. Its important to remember that insurance agents make their money by selling you policies not by giving advice. No matter what you insure the boat for they will adjust for age, wear, etc. HO policies will also typically pay up to 1k for the damage to your own boat even if you where at fault, many times waiving the deductible. Most boat policies have many exclusions to coverage and any claim over 5k will recieve substantial scrutiny. Racing is specifically excluded in some policies, especially racing motorboats. Premiums are reasonable for boat coverage is you feel its neccessary. I don't think its a smart investment for most recreational sailors unless the boat is subject to damage based on where its stored. For the majority the policy will never provide any needed coverage. Let your HO policy carry the load if possible, you have to carry that coverage it isn't an option. Spend the money you would have used on boat insurance and increase your retirement investments or increase your life insurance protection, or put those dollars into an account to provide self insurance and a new boat fund. My 2 cents.

I know my HO policy covers anything I store in a "storage facility".. meaning if somebody steals my boat or even my rolling toolbox for working on cars... it's covered even though it's nowhere near my home. HO insurance is pretty broad.

Progressive or Boat US have the best policies on the west coast. I have my keel boat insured with Progressive. I have not added the hobie yet, but am considering doing so just for the liability.

I've participated in a couple of races this year that required liability insurance. This is the first year I've run across this, but it will probably become more common. The insurance is inexpensive but definitely make sure the cover racing if you ever plan to race. That's why I went with Progressive. They didn't want any information from me on my Hobie 20, they covered racing events and insured it at an agreed value. It was around $150. I haven't had a claim, so I can't vouch for their performance in that regard.

Where I sail there is no other sailors or property to damage. Boat is a 2002 Tiger. Is it worth the 125. a year for insurance. What sort of things would be covered? Seems as if theft would be, but the only other thing I could imagine would be if was holed in a number of places say after sailing and being dismasted and drifting onto rocks. Since the hulls are sealed and it is not moored, it is not likely to suffer any other damage. Mine once drifted out into our reservoir when I forgot to tie it down and they raised the level of the water higher than it had ever been. It drifted into the large rocks on the dam and was gored. This was my fault and I assume it would not be covered.

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Cheers
Alan